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Just sent this to my brother. When we were about 16 and 11, respectively, we were spending the summer with my grandparents in Texas. My parents came to join us, and on a whim one day, we all set out to find this weird old, very unofficial "zoo" that my dad remembered from his teens.
We did find it. It was located in the piney woods, far from anything, and was a conglomeration of chickenwire pens and trailers and plywood enclosures, all surrounded by a big plywood facade to make it look a little touristy. But it was run down. We met the proprietors, who were both retired former circus people, in their 60s. They had both been animal keepers, but had also done double duty -- the guy was a Tattooed Man and a Bearded Man as well. I forget what the woman had done. The zoo was a retirement project for them, and the animals there were also retired/rescued circus animals. However...they were actively breeding them!
This zoo was most definitely not accredited or, really, in any way professionalized. It was the most grassroots animalkeeping operation I have ever seen. We were the only people visiting that day and, it felt, maybe the only people for a really long time. They welcomed us in and showed us around. They had dingoes (very cute, lots of pups), a giraffe, and some peacocks and stuff...more that I don't remember. The main deal was that they had lions who had given birth not long ago. They brought out the lion cubs and let me and my brother hold them. I still remember this pretty vividly. Their fur was very thick and soft. They were a lot like regular kittens, only big, heavy, and muscular. They were sleepy from just having nursed, and happy to curl up in our arms. Their paws were huge for their size, and they had a lot of extra, soft skin around their necks. The mother lioness watched us pretty intently while we held the cubs, but wasn't agitated. I have pictures of us there which I should scan.
All in all, a unique experience. This really reminded me of that - the young cubs, the super-human-adjusted lioness.
photo by splunge
photo by TheophileEscargot
photo by Kronos_to_Earth
photo by ethylene
